Ruth— The Romance of Redemption
04.27.22
Entreat me not to leave you, or to return from following after you: for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge: your people shall be my people, and your God my God. (Ruth 1:16)
We come now to another of the books which we have looked at carefully in the past. Ruth is a precious book to me as it was my mum’s name. She had a great influence on my coming to the Savior at the age of ten.
Ruth is a story of loyalty, purity and love, set against the background of the darkness and chaos we saw last time in the period of the Judges.
As with Judges, the authorship is uncertain. Tradition points to Samuel.
The theme of this little book is redemption. It is the story of the kinsman-redeemer. Boaz takes this role in the story, but it is fulfilled finally and fully in what Christ has done for mankind at the cross: taking our place and buying us back!
There are five events, or links, that were used of God to bring Ruth, a Moabite, to Boaz, a man of Israel.
The first link was a famine. To escape the drought in Israel, Naomi and her family left Israel and came to Moab, a traditional enemy of God’s people.
The second link was family. While in Moab, both of Naomi’s sons married women of Moab. One of these was Ruth, the other Orpah.
Funerals formed link number three. All of the men of Naomi’s family died, one by one, beginning with her husband, followed by her two sons.
This led to link number four—fear. Naomi intended to return to her people in Israel. What will Ruth and Orpah do? If Naomi leaves, they will be alone. Ruth decided to leave Moab and follow Naomi to Israel, while Orpah remained behind.
The final link that brought together Ruth and Boaz was a field. Naomi and Ruth needed a means of employment in Israel; their property was controlled by someone else. Ruth took upon herself the lowly task of being a gleaner. As the Scripture puts it, she just “happened” to land in the field of Boaz. However, with God, there are no coincidences, only His divine purpose.
Ruth served faithfully in that field. Her labor was noticed by the owner of the field, a godly man named Boaz.
He had a soft heart for this alien girl, for his own mother had been an alien in Israel. Though she had been raised in a heathen culture, she trusted in the true God, and became a part of the people of the land. An Israelite named Salmon took her to wife, and from their union Boaz was born.
Boaz took upon himself the duty and joy to redeem the lands belonging to Naomi by taking Ruth as his wife. He loved her and he redeemed her, just as Jesus Christ did when He went to the cross for the sins of the world.
Just like Boaz’ mother Rahab, Ruth, a Gentile, became the great-grandmother of David and was thus brought into the lineage of Christ. (Ruth 4:18-22; Matthew 1:5, 6, 16)
“What star of Messianic truth, more beautiful than Gentile Ruth? In her the Gentiles find a place, to share the hope of Judah’s race; now see from royal David’s line, one hope for Jew and Gentile shine!”